Guest Author: Eric Aiken

How the Brooklyn D.A. covers-up Orthodox child molesters, 1 of 2

Over a year and a half ago, I made a Freedom of Information Law request (FOIL) to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office. I wanted the photo and arrest report of 15 Orthodox men who were convicted by the Brooklyn D.A. of child sex crimes.

Having access to both the photo and arrest report are important for the public. Parents need a photo so they can identify Orthodox child sex predators in their communities and keep them away from their kids. In addition, many individuals share the same name. Only a photo can help the public separate the innocent from the guilty.

The arrest report also contains crucial information. Few people realize how disgusting, perverted and sub-human Orthodox child sex predators can be without having access to this information, as difficult and horrifying as it is to read.

The case of Moshe Friedman illustrates why the arrest report is needed. In a criminal case currently in the Brooklyn court system, Moshe Friedman was arrested on child sex abuse charges. His name didn’t show up on any blog, website or media report.

A source gave me a redacted copy of Friedman’s arrest report. The report states that Friedman sodomized a young boy with a banana, bit the boy’s penis, beat him and shoved rags into the boy’s mouth. He then put a gun to the boy’s head, threatening to kill him and his family if he told anyone what happened. According to the report, this occurred multiple times per month and over the course of a year and a half.

Another source told me that when the rabbis at Friedman’s school were informed of the allegations against Friedman, they didn’t call the police. Rabbis rarely do, no matter how serious the allegations. Someone else reported Friedman to the police.

Rabbis and Orthodox officials frequently ignore, minimize or cover up known Orthodox child sex predators. They do this to prevent the Orthodox community from discovering the humiliating truth about how common and pervasive child sexual abuse is.

When an Orthodox individual is convicted of a child sex crime, few people know what he did because they rarely have access to the arrest reports. If the public knew, I believe there would be much more outrage about the way that rabbis cover up and protect these dangerous criminals.

The Brooklyn D.A.’s office told me that they didn’t have the photos or arrest reports of any of the 15 men that I asked about – even though the D.A.’s office confirmed to me in writing that they prosecuted and convicted them. The D.A.’s office told me that I should send my request to NYPD instead.

So I did.

NYPD refused to give me a single record that I requested. I appealed NYPD’s decision to the FOIL appeals officer, Jonathan David. He made me wait nearly 5 months before he issued his decision – that he wasn’t going to give me a single one of the records that I requested. He made the ridiculous claim that releasing the photos and redacted arrest reports of any of these 15 convicted Orthodox child sex offenders would identify their victims and thereby violate the victims’ right to privacy.

This is nonsense. Releasing an Orthodox child molester’s photo doesn’t identify his victim and neither does issuing a redacted arrest report. But it does embarrass the rabbis who cover up and protect Orthodox child molesters and run the Orthodox institutions in which the abuse frequently occurs.

New York’s public registry is able to include the pictures and conviction records of 24,000 sex offenders without violating any law, identifying a single victim or violating the rights of anyone. But for the Orthodox men that I want to know about, the Brooklyn D.A. and NYPD is adamant that every single one of them must be shielded from public view.

The Brooklyn D.A. has a long history of ignoring and covering-up rampant child sexual abuse in Orthodox neighborhoods and allowing rabbis to punish victims who testify against their abuser. In the second article of this series, I show how the current D.A., Kenneth Thompson, continues the corrupt legacy of his predecessor, Charles Hynes.

There had been hopes that Thompson would clean up Hynes’ mess; instead he’s in the pocket of the Hasidim in much the same way. What a cesspool Brooklyn is in some ways, and of all ways this is perhaps the worst I can think of.